What Is Tallow

Not all beef tallow is created equal, it’s important to note that tallow from pastured cows have a healthy and beneficial list of vitamins and lipids that are bio available both in topical and internal uses. IE as skin care or cooking/eating with.

Tallow: Your Skins Hero

Tallow is rich in lipids and fat soluble vitamins A,D,E and K found naturally and in plentiful quantity in youthful, healthy skin. (These are the same vitamins that Dr. Weston Price found to be wanting in a SAD(Standard American Diet which you can read more about here and here.) It also has a similar molecular makeup as human skin which is why it’s easily absorbed and utilized by your body’s largest organ (your skin).

In regard to this compatibility of tallow with the biology of our skin, we should note that we are animals rather than plants, so the modern taboo against animal products in skin care products would seem unfounded and even illogical. In addition to containing very little saturated fats, plant products do not have the same levels of other nutrients needed for healthy skin. Tallow contains the abundant natural fat-soluble activators, vitamins A, D, and K, as well as vitamin E, which are found only in animal fats and which are all necessary for general health and for skin health. -Weston A Price Foundation

Tallow is a single , nutrient dense ingredient, readily available for your body’s use.

What We Use Tallow Balm For

Sunburns – If you’ve just spent a day in the sun and are feeling a bit crisp, layer tallow balm on and you may be amazed to skip the peeling/burning altogether. (It should go with out saying it is best to avoid being sunburned altogether :))

Diaper Rash- Nutrient dense healing goodness all over baby’s bum, you bet! Works like a charm wit no questionable ingredients.

Anti-aging cream – Believe it, this is called bovine botox for a reason. There was a story I read and I think that was one of the stories that convinced me how potent this stuff is before I ever tried it for myself. The story goes like this: A lady in her 50’s met with a friend at a class reunion. Her friend asked her if she had work done on her face. Beaming, the lady replied the only thing she started doing was using tallow balm. Her friend in disbelief stated she looked years younger.

Dry/Chapped Lips – It’s my winter go to for chapped lips. Works as good or better than any chapstick I’ve ever tried.

Eczema, Psoriasis – When my son was a few months old he developed the worst skin some form of eczema, and though I tried pin pointing things with diet as well, the thing that kept it cleared up was the tallow balm. I used it regularly, and if I neglected it, it always came back. It lasted that was until he was over a year old. There are countless testimonials other than mine as to the healing benefits tallow has for these skin conditions.

Dried Chapped Wintered Skin- Tallow Balm works wonders for this. And just last week it proved lifesaver again. My daught er had red, chapped hands that were raw. She came crying to me about them. I slathered them with tallow balm for two days and the second day they were all healed up.

Body “Lotion” – I feel a little redundant writing this one down, but just in case there’s any question. We don’t use lotion, we use tallow balm in it’s stead. It works wonderful everywhere.

Minor Cuts/Wounds Bug Bites/Stings – If you have severe wounds I’d recommend you go to the hospital. For all minor ones that you don’t need to go to the hospital for, tallow balm speeds up recovery. From paper cuts to a minor kitchen accidents or minor burns, it soothes and heals and aids in a speedy recovery. Paired with fitting essential oils it’s great for bug bites/stings as well.

Makeup Remover – As previously stated it’s a wonderful facial moisturizer/ anti aging cream. I tend to alternate between tallow balm and coconut oil as a make up remover. Honestly, it’s whichever is closer. It cleans make up off and is a nice eye lash treatment too.

Where To Buy Tallow Balm From

A quick google search would probably yield many different sellers. Since I don’t buy mine I would personally recommend Radiant Life as they are a company I really trust.

The price may seem a bit hefty, but I can definitely attest that a little goes a long way.

EASY DIY Tallow Balm Recipe (including how to render beef suet)

4 parts tallow

1 part olive oil

essential oils of choice

There are a variety of essential oils that are great for the skin. Lavender, tea tree, geranium, cedarwood and frankincense are a few popular choices. I usually have a few different kinds on hand. One for babies one for the men, maybe a seasonal one, and my personal mood which varies.

To Render Suet into Tallow

I buy my beef suet in 3-5# packages.

Using a large knife and cutting board cut suet into small chunks. This won’t be the prettiest. I get enough to fill up my large crock pot. Turn crock pot on low. Depending on crock pot it can take 8-12 hours for suet to liquefy. The tendons, groins and gross looking pieces will rise to the top. (This is the worst of it) I spoon out the big pieces and then pour the rest through a sieve/collander.
I then transfer the rendered and strained beef tallow into mason jars. This will be stable at room temperature. I usually get 3-4 quarts and as I wont need that much I store it in the fridge or freezer for better keeping.

To Make Tallow Balm

I wait for a jar of my newly rendered beef tallow to cool enough so that it’s still liquid and warm, but not hot. I use 2 and 4 ounce jars. I pour warm tallow into jar of choice a little more than 3/4 of the way full. I then add organic cold pressed olive oil and essential oil of choice. How much depends on personal preference and size of jars.

Give it a stir and let set.

When cooled completely it will be solid.

Tallow by itself will be hard and possibly crumbly when cold.The addition of an alternative oil, in this case, olive oil, makes it into a creamy balm while also adding additional healing benefits to your salve.

You can play around with this recipe adding more or less olive oil to get the consistency you prefer. Less will make it harder, more will it softer.

You can also try out different oils instead of using olive oil.

Castor oil, avocado oil and coconut oil are all good suggestions. I plan to try castor oil out the next time I make tallow balm.

Have you ever tried tallow balm? Do you want to try it?

If you try this recipe out as is or use any of the alternative suggestions let me know how it turns out.

If you know a friend who needs to clean up their skin care regime or found this helpful please share!

When I first discover or want to know more about something, the reviews and real life stories are what I skip straight to. I know those are the people that won’t be trying to dupe anyone.

Yogurt was one of the first things I started making on my own. And with good reason. It’s so easy it practically makes itself! In fact, it’s so easy my almost 5 yo knows how to make it. (It does require using a stove,so supervision is recommended for young children.) Before I knew how easy it was and inspite of hearing how easy it was, I was still intimidated. I lived in a cute little town though, that has a practically perfect little store that had an adorable little yogurt maker in it. I’ll admit the yogurt maker helped me get over my fear and put me well on my way to being a pro DIYer, but my recipe is actually even easier than using that yogurt maker.

Maybe you’re not convinced it’s worth your time to make your own yogurt, however. Allow me to explain why that’s far from the truth…

Store bought yogurt almost always comes in plastic, which adds a healthy dose of hormone disruptors while also contributing to unnecessary waste.

Homemade wins economically, by leaps and bounds.

Homemade you control the end product. What kind of milk, what kind of sweetener, what flavor if any is added.

You can control what strands of probiotic you use! Specific strands can help specific problems, so you could technically make your yogurt especially targeted for a flu, head cold, or at younger children dependent on the probiotic strands you choose. You do have to be careful though, as some strands will create a snotty like textured yogurt…ask me how I know.

It’s so easy it’s silly. That’s a legit reason.

You’re way more hip if you make your own. Also legit.

So now that we all agree that making your own yogurt is doing yourself and the world a favor… here’s the recipe/method!

Step 1. Over medium heat warm 1/2 gallon of milk to about 180 degrees. Take off burner and let cool.

Step 2. Whisk 1 Tbs of previously purchased whole fat, plain yogurt or 1 capsule/ 1/2 tsp of a powdered probiotic (This one is a good quality probiotic that is great for yogurt) into cooled or luke warm milk.

Step 3. Pour into 2 quart sized mason jars and place clean cloth over them, securing with rubber bands. Put in your oven and turn the pilot light on and let them sit for 10 hours.

Brownies

the good the bad and the ugly

I grew up eating home cooked meals and desserts from scratch instead of out of a box. We still used white flour and sugar and ate out of boxes and cans though, too. Now that I know not only what most of those things have in them, but also the companies they support, it’s a lot easier to avoid them. However, i’d be lying if I said I don’t miss the nights where my dad would bring home 20 frozen chicken pot pies( whaaa, split by 13 people that’s not that much). I’ll never know if it was the msg or the nostalgia of being surrounded by family in a bustling kitchen, that tasted so good.

Since Ive discovered Dr. Weston Price and his book, Nutrition and Physical Degeneration, and started my journey to real and nourishing food; i’ve been on a mission to revamp all those childhood recipes, actually any recipe I come across and feel the need for. And brownies have been, are and always will be one of my comfort foods. They remind me of my grandparents, they remind me of home and childhood. They remind me of our family reunions and camping trips. They remind me of cross country sleep overs during high school, and making mug brownies in a microwave during college. *shudders* . They were oh so good though.

So it’s only natural with all of my brownie making/tasting experience(box brownies included), I should create my very own original recipe. These babies crinkle on top and sparkle all the way down your esophagus. (I haven’t proved this, but I can feel it.) You’re welcome.

My “cake style brownie” hating “brownie snob” husband approves of these fudge brownies. And the first time I made them he didn’t know they were made with coconut flour. He was just raving.Raving! I tell you no lies! I couldn’t believe it. And the reason I couldn’t believe it is because since we’ve been married(6years) I followed fudge brownie recipe after recipe for him to only tell me they tasted like cake brownies. That’s a lot of years of brownie rejections. It was a tough time in our marriage, but we’ve persevered and beat the odds together. You sugar conscious people(me) want to know the secret? Well I don’t know every brownie secret, but a pretty big one is the sugar. I usually use 1/4 of the sugar that most recipes call for…therefore fudging up all attempts at fudge brownies. Pun intended. Since these have so much sugar, I still usually do cut the sugar, and save the full recipe for extra special hyggelig moments. Make it as you will, but I warned you. For fudge sake…just give it some shugah. Are you for team cake brownie or team fudge brownie? Have you tried this recipe? Let me know in the comments!

Coconut flour fudge brownies

fudgey brownie goodness made with pastured eggs, coconut flour and sucanut. They even crinkle on the top.

Course
Dessert

Cuisine
American

Ingredients

1cup butterpastured

2 cupssucanut/cane sugarorganic

5 eggspastured

1/2tbsppure vanilla extract

1/3cupcoconut flour

3/4cupcocoa or cacoa powder

1tspsea salt

3/4cupchopped nuts (opt)

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350. Butter a glass or stone 9x13 baking pan. Melt butter. Mix in sugar. Add eggs one at a time to mix well. Add vanilla extract. Add cocoa, coconut flour and salt to batter and beat with a whisk. Let it sit a few minutes for the coconut flour to absorb the liquid. Add optional nuts. Pour into prepared pan and cook for 20-25 minutes.

Let cool, or eat warm out of pan after kids go to sleep. Note, if eating out of pan while still warm, it is recommended to start in the middle.